Points of Contact (POCs)

Introduction

Table of Contents

Points of Contact (POCs) represent a specific person or role in ARIN's database. A POCrecord is defined by contact information including individual or role name, email address, postal address, and phone number. A POChandle is the auto-generated alphanumeric ID assigned to a POC record by ARIN Online (for example, YZ55-ARIN).

A POC can be specified as an Admin, Tech, Abuse, or Network Operations Center (NOC) contact for an organization. For more information on the types of POCs and the roles they can take in managing organization details, please see the Introduction to ARIN's Database page.

The ARIN RESTful web service can be used to create, modify, and remove POCs. This provisioning system allows for more secure interactions with ARIN's database and provides even stronger authentication on automated submissions. More information is provided in the RESTful Methods page.

If you are submitting your POC request via REST, you will need to include an API key to authorize processing. To create an API key, log in to your ARIN Online account and select Your Account > Settings in the navigation menu. In the Security Info section, Manage API Keys from the Actions menu.

Creating a POC

Method 1: ARIN Online

After setting up and logging in to your ARIN Online account, you'll be prompted to link your ARIN Online account to an existing POC or create a new POC.

Method 2: RESTful Web Service

Visit our RESTful Methods page for more information and to view the API documentation for ARIN’s RESTful web service.

Linking a POC to Your ARIN Online Account

Available in ARIN Online Only

Having a POC linked to an ARIN Online account is necessary for many actions available through ARIN Online, via RESTful calls, and for template submissions. If you already have a POC that exists in ARIN's database, you can link it to your ARIN Online account.

Note: Only Role POCs can be linked to multiple ARIN Online accounts.

To link a POC to your ARIN Online account:

Select Your Account > Point of Contact Records in the navigation menu. The Point of Contact Records page displays any POCs that are already linked to your ARIN Online account.

In the POC Actions menu, choose Link POC.

Enter search criteria to find the desired POC and choose Search. (Email address is the default search field; you can choose More Search Fields to enter additional search criteria.)

In the Results field, select the correct POC and choose Use this POC. You can choose more than one POC. The chosen POCs are listed as POCs Selected to be Linked.

Choose Submit POCs.

The ARIN Online user associated with the POC will receive an email request to confirm the link with your ARIN Online account. To confirm the link, the user must enter the authorization URL included in the email into a web browser while logged into their ARIN Online account.

Modifying a POC

Method 1: ARIN Online

Select Your Account > Point of Contact Records in the navigation menu.

Choose the POC that you want to modify from the POCs listed under POCs Associated with Your Web Account. Additional information about the POC is displayed, and the Modify button is shown.

Method 2: RESTful Web Service

Visit our RESTful Methods page for more information and to view the API documentation for ARIN’s RESTful web service.

Removing a POC

Method 1: ARIN Online

A POC cannot be deleted if it is associated with any Org IDs or resources. You may need to modify the Org IDs and/or resources (or have an Admin POC or Tech POC for the Org ID do so) to remove the POC from all records before you can delete the POC.

To remove (delete) a POC:

Select Your Account > Point of Contact Records and then choose the POC Name to open the Point of Contact Record page.

In the POC Information section, choose Remove this POC.

Confirm the removal.

Method 2: RESTful Web Service

Visit our RESTful Methods page for more information and to view the API documentation for ARIN’s RESTful web service.

Using a POC

To request resources, manage resources, or be listed as a contact for your organization, your POC must be associated with an organization identifier (Org ID). To see a list of the Org IDs you are associated with through the POCs linked to your ARIN Online account, select Your Account > Organization Identifiers in the navigation menu while logged in. If you don't see an Org ID for your organization, and you need to add a new Org ID, please review the organization instructions for information on creating a new Org ID.

If you should be linked to an existing organization, but are not, you'll need to ask one of the users who is a POC for that organization to link your newly-created POC to the Org ID. Note that you cannot add your new POC to the Org ID yourself; someone currently listed as a POC must do so for you. Please refer the user to the instructions for linking Points of Contact (POCs) to an Org ID in ARIN Online.

Validating Your POC Information

In accordance with NRPM Section 3.6: Annual Validation of ARIN's Public Whois Point of Contact Data, an email will be sent to every Tech, Admin, NOC, and Abuse POC for organizations with a direct assignment, direct allocation, or ASN from ARIN (or one of its predecessor registries), as well as for organizations with a reallocation from an upstream ISP. Each POC will have a maximum of 60 days to respond with an affirmative that their Whois contact information is correct and complete. Users listed as POCs that receive emails requesting validation can verify their information by replying to the email (adding "CORRECT" in the subject line and leaving the original email in the reply). Users can also perform POC validation in ARIN Online.

When the POC Validation email is sent, a bold, red "Requires Validation" message appears for that POC in the POC List on the POC Records page. In addition, a bold, red "Unvalidated" message will appear next to any unvalidated POCs on the Org, Net, and ASN displays.

After 60 days, unresponsive POC email addresses are marked as invalid in the database. Additionally, an ARIN Online user linked to any POCs that are not validated in 60 days will only have access to ToS and POC functionality within ARIN Online. They will need to validate or modify their POC in order to access all other functionality.

Users must validate their invalid/unresponsive POCs prior to requesting services and database changes. After the POC is validated, full functionality will be restored to the ARIN Online account.

Recovering a POC

Available in ARIN Online Only

If you have a POC with an inaccessible email address, you may be able to have the email address updated by submitting a POC Recovery Request. You can only recover a POC that represents you, or in the case of a role POC, a role that you perform. After you confirm your access to the new email address, a ticket is created. POC recovery requests are manually reviewed by ARIN staff.

Note: If your organization has no valid Admin or Tech POCs on its Org ID--for example, if the POCs that are listed in Whois have left your organization--you'll need to submit an Organization Recovery Request instead. The Org Recovery process allows you to submit a request to associate your POC with an Org ID that you are not currently authoritative for.

To submit a POC recovery request:

Select Your Account > Point of Contact Records in the navigation menu.

In the POC Actions menu, choose Recover POC.

Follow the instructions, entering the new email address for the POC. ARIN will send a request to the new email address to authorize the change.

After receiving the verification email, make sure you are logged in to ARIN Online and enter the URL contained in the authorization request. The system will create a ticket for ARIN staff to manually review the request.